THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Frustrated inmates breaking out of the Poojappura Children’s Home has forced a re-think of what has been termed its ‘dictatorial’ top-down functioning. The Social Justice Department has decided to allow the inmates, mostly orphaned and abandoned children, to take over the running of the institution. The ultimate objective looks almost Utopian: to do away with any kind of security for the home.
In pursuit of this, the home has formed ‘Balasabhas' or children’s committee to ensure the participation of inmates in decisions related to their care, welfare, protection and recreation. These committees, which will have inmates as its members, will be reconstituted every three months. “The children’s home must promote a culture that is child-centred and encourages participation from children in all aspects of decision making,” a top social justice official said.
With the inmates becoming the masters of their own life, official control over the boys will gradually wane. Strict control is said to be the cause of the frequent escape attempts by inmates of the home. Therefore, the strategy is to draw down security to the level possible. “My personal opinion is that children should not feel that they are shut inside. Every child has an innate craving for freedom. If this is curtailed, a child will attempt to escape even from the confines of his own home,” the official said.
A change in the ambience of a children’s home can be brought about without providing any additional infrastructure facility. It requires the mere presence of a conscientious superintendent. The Kottayam Children’s Home, where a new superintendent had drastically changed the face of a once notorious home two years ago without any additional facility, is cited as example. However, authorities realise that old habits die hard and that it would take some time before children call the shots. New manuals and protocols have been prepared to effect incremental changes in a deep-rooted control culture.
